Pursued
by GuardianSoulBlade
Summary: She had escaped from their clutches, but never their sight. She was supposed to be dead, but she wasn't; now they set their sights on her son, and she must protect him, except that she's locked away in a Jump City Mental institution.
1. The Dead Woman

**Pursued**

**_Summary:_**_ She had escaped from their clutches, but never their sight. She was supposed to be dead, but she wasn't; now they set their sights on her son, and she must protect him, except that she's locked away in a Jump City Mental institution._

* * *

**The Dead Woman**

"Tell me your name," the orderly gazed at the woman in the straitjacket. They said she was dangerous, that her delusions were strong enough that she'd try to escape the Jump City Sunny Hills Asylum. It was no Arkham, but it had its share of loonies.

"Hello patient 4815162342, what's your name?" The orderly inquired.

"Mary Lloyd Grayson," the woman replied.

"You are not Mary Grayson, she's dead," he looked at her.

"I was dead, but they forced me to come back," the woman returned his gaze.

"You read news stories about Dick Grayson, you were drawn to him. He became your obsession."

"It's not true! You're the one who's crazy!" she snapped.

"If you weren't crazy, you'd be let out of here," the orderly looked at her. "There's no reasoning with you."

"The birds, the birds have made their nests in my home! They came and stole my corpse, I crossed the River Lethe from where the shades walk and was dragged, unwilling back into a cold dark place. They broke me, broke me and remade me into their heartless puppet!"

A bird in a cage, that's what she was. How ironic. The bird motif surrounded the Grayson family.

"You're raving, Ma'am, there's no birds in this building."

_"Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them, or they'll send the Talon for your head."_

"It's merely part of your delusions, you've created a story in which you and Dick Grayson are connected, you claim you're his mother so you can have a connection to the outside world. You keep blocking out some horrible trauma that you experienced. If you would tell me the truth, I could get you the proper help you need."

"I'm not crazy, my mind's just broken, and you in your fancy coats and clipboards know nothing at all."

"There's no reasoning with you now, I'll be going."

She watched him leave, no one would believe her, no one stretched their minds to accommodate the possibility that what she said was true, but it was.

"Their Talons are extending, they're not just content with Gotham anymore, they want my son's legacy, and they're not letting me get away."

The orderly left the mystery woman to her mindless ramblings. Still it was mysterious. She was white like a corpse, and was stronger than an average human, which is why they kept her chained up and in a straitjacket.

He went about his duties an returned to her cell, listening to her ramblings with amusement.

"Their dark cold labyrinth of death, always hunting, maiming, killing. They left me to go mad in that hellish place. The birds! Owls devouring Robin, they'll tear us both to pieces, I'll never escape them. Never get away. They're always watching, watching from their shadowed perches."

She looked up as a figure broke into her cell. Her eyes widened in horror.

"Mary Grayson…the Court of Owls…has sentenced you to die!"

"The bird has come to shred me, sent a Talon for my head!"

"I guess it's time to give her a sedative so she'll be quiet." He entered the room.

"Hey you! What are you doing here?" the orderly demanded. The dark costumed figure ignored him completely.

"You're not allowed in here—!" the orderly protested, only to be silenced by a blade embedding itself in his throat. The body hit the floor with a thud.

"Good, no interruptions," he moved to stab the woman, he thought her helpless, restrained by chains and a straitjacket.

The Talon stabbed at her, he would silence this "insane" traitor, she knew too much and if she got away she would reveal his masters' plans to others, even if the outside world did not believe her.

She moved, he was surprised, even though he knew he shouldn't be. She was like him, enhanced with Electrum, he realized his mistake, she had used the momentum of his throwing knives to cut the chains and the straitjacket, she was loose!

Mary fought him, using every technique she knew. Having been brainwashed and trained by them, she knew how they fought, but she knew her skills weren't nearly enough.

A few quick jabs and punches. Mary scored a lucky hit to the mandibular nerve. A few lucky blows to the stomach and face. She whirled around and kicked him back. He threw half a dozen throwing knives in her direction, due to the confined space; one of them grazed her side.

Mary somersaulted backward; she jumped out the window, using an awning to break her all. She began running; there was nowhere to go but out and away.

She could hear the alarms going off. Everyone would be looking for her, she had to disappear, vanish into the vast masses of Jump City and hope that the owls with their prying eyes wouldn't find her.

* * *

Robin sat at the monitor, keeping an eye on his city, suddenly, the video was interrupted.

"Sorry Titans, we've had a patient of Sunny Hills Asylum escape tonight."

"Sir, do you have info on him? A picture and a description?"

"I'll send it to you right away, wait—all our data on her has been erased!"

"Have you seen her?" Robin inquired.

"She's four feet eleven inches tall, blonde hair, green eyes. She's very delusional She claimed to be Dick Grayson's mother."

"That's a wild claim. Mary Grayson died at Haly's Circus."

"Yeah, I was there that night," the man told him. "That was unforgettable."

"I'll have the Titans look out for her," Robin told him. The man thanked him and ended the communication. They were all exhausted from patrol. They didn't have enough energy to search for her.

The next day Robin called his friends to the common room.

"Titans there's a woman who escaped from Sunny Hills Asylum, she's four foot eleven, blond hair, green eyes."

"That could be anyone," Cyborg noted.

"Yeah, there are boatloads of girls with the description," Beast Boy chimed in. "I thought Sunny Hills was safe you know, not like Arkham where it's made of a rotating door."

"Apparently, someone died last night in a fire in one of the cells," Raven pointed out, showing him the newspaper.

"We shall do our best to search for her," Starfire added.

"We'll try our best, on top of everything else going on," Robin looked at them. "if you see anything suspicious or find her, call me."

* * *

Raven had been walking back from her favorite bookstore when she saw a woman huddled in an alleyway.

"Do you need something?" Raven asked.

"My mind…my mind is broken. They broke me. I don't understand. What they did to me. I'm not right in the head. The birds! Those birds are always chasing me. They made their nests in my home. They're going to take my son! They'll break him; hurt him like they broke me."

"Easy now, easy, I can help you." Raven knelt beside the woman. "I'll ease your mind."

Raven placed her hand on the woman's forehead. She felt cold, like a corpse. She must be sick.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." Raven chanted, she could feel her powers coursing through the woman's body, she could see brief flashes of memory, but something was keeping her from seeing everything, complete sections of this woman's life were blank, as if she wanted to block out terrible things.

"Easy," Raven soothed, "You're better now."

"I…I can think coherently, what did you do to me?"

I only helped your mind, eased the trauma." Raven had to wonder who this woman was, she matched the description of the escapee from Sunny Hills Asylum.

"Please, my name is Raven. I'm a Teen Titan and I can help you, you escaped from Sunny Hills, they can help you there," Raven began.

"No Raven, they can't help me, you've done enough," Mary told her. Raven's vision was suddenly blocked by smoke. When she looked for the woman she had vanished.

"Where did she go?" Raven asked, she took to the sky and called for the others. She had no idea if helping this woman was a good thing or not.

_Elsewhere…_

Slade Wilson sat in his hideout, mulling over unfinished plans. He had many ideas, but how to put them in motion and get results; that was a problem, especially with Robin constantly after him.

He looked up hearing a noise. It wasn't loud, but someone was trying to sneak up on him, the Titans didn't bother with stealth.

"Who are you?" he demanded. They were crazy, or had some sort of death wish, trying to come after him on his own turf. Who was it? A would be hero looking to impress the Titans by taking him on? No, nobody could be that stupid. Maybe it was a new client looking to pay him for a job. He would be civil at least, never pass up the opportunity for money.

"I need your help Slade," the woman's voice spoke. He noticed it sounded deep, hollow, like it wasn't human.

"I don't do helping other people, I charge for my services," Slade smirked.

"I don't have money, but I have something you want."

"A smoking hot body?" Slade asked sarcastically.

"Information," she replied.

"If this is about the Titans, I have plenty of information, if you think you can trade on that, you're not getting anything."

"Not the Titans, the Court of Owls."

"The Court of Owls is a Gotham nursery rhyme, a children's story."

"No they're coming for you, all of you. They want to expand into this city. They want to have plenty of nests."

"This coming from a Sunny Hills escapee," Slade laughed.

Suddenly a dozen knives were embedded in his chest; the figure moved and attacked him. Slade beat her off with his fists, throwing in hard, viscous kicks to take the advantage. She snap kicked him in the knees, and he took the blows and elbowed her in the gut.

"You're skilled I'll give you that, but your techniques are old, outdated."

He slammed her onto the ground. "Now miss what could you give me in exchange for my help?"

"Keeping the Titans busy, would that help you wouldn't it?" she gasped.

"It would be helpful, your info on this Court of Owls could benefit me, I can't have competition, the Titans are troublesome enough as it is."

"I want you to train me, train me to kill the Court of Owls," Mary looked at him. She'd heard stories in the asylum about Robin's rivalry with Slade. She knew it wasn't right, going to her son's arch nemesis, but she was crazy, and she wasn't fit to see her son again in her condition, at least that's how she saw it in her own mind. And crazy people can understand crazy people.

"We've made a deal regarding you keeping the Titans out of my way, what does this have to do with the Court of Owls?"

"I will kill the members of the Court here in Jump City, the Titans will chase me instead of you."

"What would you pay me to train you?" Slade asked. It was clear this woman didn't have a cent to her name.

She handed him a ring. It was a simple gold band, not worth much at all, and then he saw the engraving and was surprised.

"You have a deal Grayson; you should consider yourself lucky I didn't kill you."

"Why's that Slade?" Mary asked.

"Had Robin found out I murdered his undead mother, he'd be hell to deal with."

"But why do you believe me?" Mary asked, stepping into the light. Slade gazed at her pale body, covered in tattered clothes that looked like a uniform of some sort. She suddenly ripped the tattered rags off, revealing a black uniform with belts and pouches, she put on a mask and he found himself staring at the face of an owl.

"Because no one would go through such an elaborate scheme to pose as a dead woman. And I'm not doing this to help you, I'm doing this to help me."

"Fair enough."

"Where did you get all those wonderful toys?"

"Stole it off the assassin who tried to kill me."

"Clever girl."

"Well Grayson, welcome to hell," Slade would start her training, this was going to be an interesting situation for Robin, but Slade would only be involved this much.

"Don't worry Slade; I've already been through Hell!"


	2. Claws of the Talon

**Claws of the Talon**

"Grayson, lay off the alcohol, you can't fight when inebriated," Slade scolded.

Ever since Mary had discovered Slade had some wine and beer, for guests, she'd taken to drinking heavily. Slade had humored her for a few days, but knew she was becoming addicted to it, and with her body regenerating, it wouldn't really affect her, but she wouldn't care about anything except the next drink. Having a low alcohol tolerance meant that she could get drunk off two or three glasses.

"Shuddup, like I have to listen to you!" Mary snapped.

"Fine, we'll do this the hard way; I'll beat some sense into you!" Slade snarled, this woman wanted to learn how to kill, and she'd learn whether or not she was in the mood for it.

"Get up! I want to see the woman who raised her son to be a pain in my ass!" He slammed her head into a table.

"You're not going to manipulate me by bringing my son into this!" Mary snarled through slurred speech.

Slade slammed his fist across her face. "Where's the fighting spirit you had just days ago Grayson? A few beers and you lose your resolve?"

Mary felt hazy, but she remembered she had something important that she needed to do, but Slade's voice was like a hammer in her skull.

Slade kicked her in the gut. She heaved up the alcohol she'd just consumed.

"Get it out of your system girl; I won't tolerate you being drunk! You won't learn anything. For God's sake Mary, get a hold of yourself!"

"Fine Slade, fine, stop nagging me. You sound just like John," Mary mumbled. "Alcohol doesn't affect me."

"It does, it makes you slow and stupid. Your regenerative powers do dull some of its effects but not all of it."

"You're right, you're right, I just feel like crap," Mary crawled over to a toilet and vomited.

"Get some rest Grayson, I expect you up at five in the morning," Slade sighed, it was like boot camp with this woman, only it was far more of a nuisance.

"I wanted your son to work for me," Slade told her, he had no idea why. Maybe it was nice to have someone to talk to, even if he was using her to keep Robin busy.

"It wasn't because you're being generous, you want a pawn, nothing more, and once my son was no longer useful, you'd find a replacement and get rid of him. That's how you work, that's how the Court of Owls works, you're all the same!"

Slade didn't answer her at all. She needed to sleep and this conversation was over.

Mary didn't say a word. She slumped over in her bed and went to sleep.

_"John, please baby…I love you so much…" Mary murmured in her husband's ear. She pulled off his shirt._

_"We can't Mary, not without a condom," John whispered, he touched her cheek gently._

_"I've already had Dick, and I would like to have another baby."_

_"The Court will come and take them, maybe not now, but in eight years, ten years they'll come. We are Graysons after all. They only see me as a failed attempt as an assassin."_

_"John, the Court never chose you!" Mary looked at him sternly,_

_"I know, and that's why they see me as a failure."_

_"And what am I to them?" Mary asked._

_"They only see you as a __Coochie Girl*****__ to help them breed more assassins."_

_Mary slapped him. "I'm not a stripper or a whore! I'm an artist just like everyone else!"_

_"_I_ don't feel that way, that's what _they_ think! You didn't have to slap _me_!"_

_ "Are you truly afraid of them? They would never hurt us, they respect our family too much, after all, isn't William Cobb one of their favorites?"_

_"Mary, don't make jokes about it, our family legacy is something I've never wanted." John sighed._

_"Then what do you want our family to be John?" Mary asked, sighing._

_"I want our family to do good things and help people, that's all I want."_

_"But we've never killed or hurt anyone in our lives," Mary protested. "We are good people!"_

_"I know baby, but I'm afraid, they'll come and ruin everything, that's what Gotham does to good things, it twists them into something ugly."_

_"You don't believe in that destiny crap do you? I don't, we are who we choose to be, not what some nameless, faceless criminals want us to be!"_

_"I want to believe that, Mary. I really do!"_

_"Prove it to me, make love without a condom, and don't be afraid of the consequences. Forget about the Court of Owls and what they want and tell me what you want…"_

_"Mary, I love you…love you so much!" John grabbed her kissed her…_

Mary snapped awake. She sighed.

"Dreaming again Grayson?" Slade asked.

"How would you know?"

"You say your husband's name in your sleep."

"Get dressed and eat. You have five minutes."

They began to train, he helped her improve her aim and keep her concentration. She'd always tried to fight the urge to kill, he taught her to embrace it. He taught her to maim, to hurt, to kill. She would be a deadly assassin, one that could kill the other Talons of the Court of Owls.

"Tell me more of what they did to you," Slade sounded conversational, almost friendly.

"No, you're just trying to fish for my weaknesses," Mary smirked. "You use 90% of your brain, or so I heard, you can figure out everything about me."

"Heh, worth a shot, so why haven't you asked about him?"

"Who?" Mary inquired.

"Your precious little Robin? Don't you want to know about your son?"

"I know enough, and I don't want to know anything more," Mary sighed and turned away from him.

"Why's that?"

"I might lose my nerve, and I don't want to become distracted, I can see that now. I'm doing this for him, and that's the only thing that matters to me."

"You need to study him, know his weaknesses; he has many skills, skills that you didn't teach him."

"And how many times have you stalked my son in the name of "study", hmm?" Mary crossed her arms.

Slade smiled beneath his mask, so much of the boy's personality came from his mother, it was eerie, it was almost as if Robin _was_ working for him. He wouldn't become sentimental towards her, that's where things got ugly, and she was a dead corpse walking around, he wasn't attracted to her in any way other than using her to keep Robin busy and get the Court of Owls out of the way.

"You'll do it, or our deal is off, besides, I know deep down you'd like to see him again, and I know you'll say yes eventually." Slade knew she wouldn't refuse.

"I don't have a choice I see," Mary sighed. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," Slade said. They didn't drive; they made their way towards their destination using parkour and acrobatics to get there.

Mary felt uncomfortable, it was the outside of Sunny Hills Asylum, she could see the spot where she'd knocked the Talon out the window and apparently killed it.

She saw her son and his friends examining her old cell, scouring it for clues; she knew they wouldn't find anything. What the Court of Owls didn't destroy, Slade had stolen, which wasn't much considering the fact that the room had been set on fire.

Whoever it was, they were dangerous, they had told him that the patient had been restrained with chains and a straitjacket.

"Someone cleaned up this place, removed evidence, well, anything that didn't get burned up." Robin noted.

"I've taken a scan of the room, we'll be able to continue investigating even if we have to leave," Cyborg added.

"We've got trouble!"Raven called to them. "Slade's minions have been spotted in the warehouse district!"

"That's cute Slade, real cute!" Mary looked at him and smirked sarcastically.

"Let's go," Slade led her to the warehouse district, they could watch and remain undetected, between their view and Slade's cameras, Mary could see everything.

"Want some popcorn?" Slade quipped.

"Good God, he made a joke!"

Slade smirked and continued watching the screen.

Mary couldn't help but smile, Robin was a born leader, he could aid and protect his friends as well as lead them in what need to be done. She wasn't looking forward to fighting him.

She watched their fighting styles, memorizing everything she saw, keeping an eye on how they interacted with each other.

"You minions tell Slade that he's not going to get what he's after!" Robin shouted. The minions charged.

Robin launched his birdarang at the nearest minion and hit it in the face.

Starfire ran through a group of them, punching their faces out.

"Color me impressed," Mary murmured, "she's good."

"She's your son's girlfriend."

"Heh, figures, a thing for redheads runs in this family."

"You're not a redhead," Slade noted.

"John is…was quirky."

Cyborg smashed a Minion to pieces after slamming it into the ground. Raven shredded another with her powers. Mary saw Dick slamming an escrima stick into the face panel of the final remaining minion.

"It's over," Robin said breathing hard. "Let's go home."

The Titans turned to leave, "Hey dude, I gotta get my peanut butter squares," Beast Boy headed downtown.

Beast Boy passed by the park, he noticed a little girl playing with some of her friends.

"What's with the pretty mask?" they asked.

"It's for me and Mommy and Daddy. We play dress up; we protect the city from bad guys."

"Like the Teen Titans?"

"Better than the Teen Titans!" the girl exclaimed. Beast Boy secretly felt insulted but the other kids didn't notice him.

"Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them, or they'll send the Talon for your head."

"The big bad owls will come and get me!" Another child teased, "Caw! Caw! Caw!" They began to run around and play again.

Beast Boy shuddered, that rhyme was way too creepy for comfort.

"That's way too creepy dude, but it's Gotham, it's evil, scary and definitely creepy," Beast Boy said, he shrugged his shoulders and continued on his way.

* * *

Slade watched the Titans disperse.

"Let's go back."

When they arrived back at his hideout Slade went through another round of sparring with her, she'd improved immensely. She was a quick learner and was using her inhuman strength to her advantage. He'd helped her improve her swordplay skills and he decided that he had taught her enough.

"Mary we have a visitor."

Mary saw a man with Slade; he was wearing the uniform of a Talon.

"This is the woman the Court of Owls is looking for, kill her!" Slade told him.

"You set me up!" Mary snarled.

"No, he's the man you want to kill, so get to it already!" Slade turned and left.

They pointed their swords at each other. "He set us both up!" they shouted at each other.

"Mary Grayson…"

"Save it, I know what you're going to say, and no I'm not gonna die!" Mary kicked Alton Carver back, he was Dick's predecessor, the Court had chosen her son before they died. It was due to the fact that her son was beyond their reach that they decided to resurrect her and break her and remake her into their puppet.

Swords met, blows were exchanged.

Mary slammed her shoulder into the side of Alton's face. She swung the blade only to have it knocked away from her.

Mary removed two throwing knives and brandished them.

Mary rushed at Alton, stabbing at him as he blocked the blade with his dagger. She backed up avoiding an attack as she slashed at him with her knives.

Alton Carver executed a flurry of kicks and slammed his fist into Mary's face.

Mary performed a flip and unleashed half a dozen throwing knives; he managed to avoid some of them.

"You're sloppy, Carver, no wonder you were put to sleep, but someone like you won't stop me!"

Carver suddenly found his body pierced by a dozen throwing knives, but to his horror, he saw a pair of swords being thrown into his chest. The momentum sent him staggering back into the wall.

"Death is merely a wound, Grayson, how do you think this is going to end?"

"I heard you're afraid of fire! I heard the story of how the Ringmaster set your trailer on fire with you in it so you would overcome fear. But look at you, you're still scared! Me, I am still a Fearless Flying Grayson!"

She took out a lighter and lit him up. Carver panicked and started screaming. He tried to find a way out to get away. Suddenly, Mary noticed a small pile of freeze discs and she grabbed a few of them and threw them at Carver. She wondered where Slade had gotten them.

"Well done, Grayson. That was vicious, dishonorable and ruthless, I have nothing left to teach you."

"You played me!" Mary glowered at him.

"A woman as determined as you isn't going to be killed by someone like him."

"Where'd you get those freeze discs?" Mary inquired.

"I had my…former apprentice steal them from your son," Slade replied wryly.

"I see. Where are you going?"

"Out," he replied. He turned and left.

Mary sat down at his computer and spent hours searching for proof of what the Court of Owls had done to her, she'd managed to find an encrypted database and used Slade's computer to hack into it. She was copying videos to a thumb drive.

Slade approached Mary as he saw her watching a video.

Mary gazed at her own image on the video. _"Mary, don't drink the water…it's got drugs, like Mushroom Samba drugs…but I'm…so thirsty…"_

"Don't do that Grayson, you're only torturing yourself."

"I won't forget what they did to me, I'll never forgive them!"

Slade stared at the video. "Damn!" He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Get your hand off me! I don't want your pity."

"You're lucky; there are very few people I _can_ pity."

"I don't want it!" she turned to him. "Why are you smiling?"

"You're learning."

"I guess I am. I think it's time I left here." Mary took the thumb drive out of the TV.

"This doesn't change my relationship with your son, Grayson, I still hate his guts," Slade told her.

Mary turned to leave.

"Oh don't worry, I hate your guts too, but I did need your help and that's all I wanted. So thank you."

"Unlike your son, you've learned gratitude, now I get to sit back, relax and enjoy the show."

"There's one thing the Graysons know, and that's putting on a good show, but don't get too comfortable, once my business with the Court is done, I'm coming for you!"

"Why's that?"

"You piss me off and you betrayed me to them! Besides, you're a selfish, narcissistic egomaniac. If anyone deserves those accolades, it's _you_ Slade." Mary put her throwing knives in her utility belt.

"As a final courtesy to you, my finest student, I give you this," he handed her a photograph. "This is the family you were looking for, isn't it?"

"Yes!" Mary hissed, triumphant.

"Give them hell."

"Oh, I will."

Slade smiled a little, "Good, I look forward to it."

She strapped on her swords and walked away.

* * *

***** A circus stripper that would also do sexual favors, so in short a circus hooker.


	3. The Girl with the Pale Mask

**The Girl with the Pale Mask**

**_Author's Note: _**_There is a creepy little girl in the Court of Owls. I'm kinda gonna have fun with this chapter. Hurting kids in real life is bad, but if you read the Court of Owls, you'll see this little girl is evil, also, I can't find her name in the comics anywhere._

_My auntie status has officially cleared; I am the Aunt of a baby boy! He was born 10/1/13 at 10:03 CST. So in celebration, this chapter's going up!_

* * *

Mary Grayson had staked out the house for weeks, watching their daily comings and goings, memorizing their routines. This rich, prosperous family was originally from Gotham City, but that wasn't what she cared about. They were members of the Court of Owls and she had…special plans for them.

"Poppa, you'll be home tonight?" the girl asked.

"Yes, of course dear," he replied. "Your mother and I both. You'll have to go to bed early, we have a trip tomorrow."

She watched them go into the house.

"Good, that's good; everyone will expect you to be gone. But you're not going anywhere!"

Mary waited a few hours; she jumped down from her hiding place and approached the door.

She watched as the little girl opened the door. Mary forced herself to kneel before the despicable child in acquiescence.

"My Lady, the Court of Owls has sent me, I must speak to your parents," Mary hissed through gritted teeth. She hated having to do this, but it was the only way to get into the house without arousing suspicion.

The little girl let her in and she found the parents sitting on the couch. "Dear, go upstairs and go to bed," the mother instructed her daughter. "We have to talk about things."

"Sweet dreams," Mary told the girl through the mask. The parents took no notice of the comment. She watched the girl go upstairs to her bedroom.

"I bring news regarding the whereabouts of Mary Grayson," she looked at them.

"Where is she? Why haven't you killed her yet?"

"She cannot die; you know that, besides—" Mary shut the door and locked it. The two recoiled in fear. "She's right here!"

With incredible speed, she slammed them against the wall, knocking the wind out of the couple. She tied them up and secured them to the wall of one of the guest bedrooms.

To think that these were the people who had terrified her and tortured her in the labyrinth, well, not exactly them, but they had gleefully watched as it happened.

It was strange to see individuals that thought themselves so high and mighty afraid and begging for their lives. She was going to make the Court of Owls pay for what they did to her, Mary would make them wish they had kept her in her grave.

"I wonder how well you'll both fare under torture. I'm very interested to see who breaks first. And you," she looked at the wife, "will be forced to watch, just like how you people threatened me. I'm going to enjoy this…immensely."

Mary approached them slowly, showing them half a dozen throwing knives, and all they could do was let out muffled screams through the gags. She tastes vengeance, and it tastes sweet.

* * *

Robin had been scouring the city, not for any supervillains, but for the Sunny Hill Asylum escapee.

"Any luck Raven?" Robin asked into his communicator.

"I can't sense this woman anywhere, come to think of it; I didn't really sense anything when I met her."

"That's strange," Robin wondered aloud.

"I just finished searching the South Side of town, no one matching her description," Cyborg reported in.

"Same with me dude," Beast Boy added.

"I cannot find anyone with her description," Sarfire said as she landed beside him.

"Robin, this is the Mayor, we have a graffiti problem, but that's not why we want you to come down to city hall exactly, you're a Gotham native so maybe you can tell us what this graffiti actually means."

"I'll be on my way, come on guys, let's go." The Titans headed straight to city hall. They found graffiti scrawled on the front walls.

_"Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Jump from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them, or they'll send the Talon for your head."_

"I must say, for the creepy message, the style's pretty artsy," Beast Boy noted."Dude, someone is totally trolling us."

"They have balls, between, the police, the city council, us, and Slade, they're crazy if they think they can just take our city from us," Cyborg crossed his arms.

"I thought the Court of Owls was just a story to scare kids, at least that's what my mother heard when she was in Gotham City," Raven frowned.

"My mom used to sing me that nursery rhyme, dad didn't like it. But Batman has investigated them and turned up nothing. Still, we'll look into it." Robin was thoughtful.

"As a favor for me" the mayor looked at Robin. "Could you check on this family, they're rather prominent and they were supposed to be on vacation, but it's been over a week and they were supposed to be back." He handed Robin the photo.

"I'll look into it, besides; it's been awhile since I've investigated any normal criminal activity."

The Titans left. "What do you mean by normal criminal activity; don't we stop normal criminal activity?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yeah, we do, but we usually deal with supervillains. There's something about this that keeps nagging at me, I don't know what it is. Maybe it's because this family is from Gotham City."

"I agree with Robin," Raven nodded. "There's something ominous about this, I can't put my finger on it either."

"This Gotham family, they are rich, did you ever meet them by chance?" Starfire inquired. She knew Dick was from Gotham and the ward of Bruce Wayne.

"No Star, never met them before."

"Well, here we are at their house," Cyborg said, pulling the T Car to a stop in the front driveway.

He knocked on the door, there was no answer, but he saw all the discarded newspapers and was immediately suspicious, he had heard they were out on a trip, but usually the mail would be stopped or someone else would get it for you.

"Raven, open the door," Robin ordered.

Raven's powers engulfed the door and it opened. The Titans spread out and began searching. Robin heard Starfire's astonished scream as the others made their way towards her.

Robin saw it, two dead bodies, pinned to the wall by throwing knives, he found a discarded knife, it was covered in blood.

"Someone had it out for these two," Cyborg gawked.

"Dude…" Beast Boy expressed his shock.

"Where's the daughter?" Raven asked. Starfire gasped. They needed to find the girl.

"Fan out!" Robin ordered. "Clear the rooms in this mansion!"

The Titans spread out. They began searching the mansion.

Robin could hear his friends shouting, "Room's clear!" and he kicked in a door, looking around the room. That feeling of dread was starting to creep up on him.

Suddenly there was a painful scream, the Titans rushed upstairs. Robin could hear a voice from further away.

"Listen to me, little girl, where are all your Mommy and Daddy's friends? Hmm?"

"I'm not telling!" the girl screamed. "My Daddy's Talons will get you! They'll kill you!"

"No, they won't," the other voice replied. It sent a chill down Robin's spine.

'But you said you're my Daddy's workers, the costume you wear, you're a Talon!"

"I lied! That's what happens when you meet _real_ bad guys! Do you think this is playtime?! That this is dress-up and pretend to be one of Gotham's great big baddies?! You thought it was funny to let your little "Talons" hurt me?! Now you little brat, I'm going to hurt you!"

There was a loud snap and a pain filled scream. Beast Boy heard the bones snapping and shuddered, this guy was a sadist, hurting a little girl, how despicable.

Starfire was horrified by everything she'd seen and was hearing. She knew there was a possibility they could save the girl, but only if they could get to her in time.

Cyborg was ready for anything. He had no idea what they were up against. Why would someone torture and kill a little girl?

Raven could sense strong emotions from the room ahead of them. A hatred so overpowering that she knew that whoever had that little girl wasn't about to let her go.

Robin felt dread rising in the pit of his stomach, he felt like he was being haunted, but haunting comes from ghosts, and ghosts come from the grave.

"Now I'm going to hurt you...more." Mary felt exhilarated to throw that girl's words back at her.

She slammed her fist into the girl's face, she could see blood dripping from her mouth and nose. She could hear bones crunch as she hit her again and again.

The Titans could hear the girl moaning as she was being beaten. Heard screaming, crying and begging.

"Stop! Please stop!" the girl moaned.

"How many times did I beg the Court to stop hurting me, and you wouldn't do anything, you people enjoyed watching me suffer; you liked breaking me. So I get to enjoy what I'm doing to you. How's it feel to have pleas fall on deaf ears?"

Mary threw the girl across the room, moved over and grabbed her by the neck.

"Before you die, I want you to sing me that nursery rhyme, the one you and your parents are so fond of."

"No—Ahhh!"

Mary stabbed the girl with one of the throwing knives; she did it slow so the little girl would feel the pain. She'd make that show Criminal Minds look like a walk in the part with pretty flowers when it came to the horror and terror of what she was doing.

_"Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them—"_

_"—Or they'll send the Talon for your head," _Mary smirked. She'd kill the girl soon, but how to do it, crush her wind pipe? Beat her to death? Kill her with her throwing knives or decapitate her with her sword? What to do? Mary made a decision. It was time for this evil little monster to die a horrible, painful death.

"Don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!" the girl screamed.

"Begging for your life? I didn't even have that privilege when I was murdered, and you have the _gall_ to beg for yours?!" Mary hit this girl hard; she didn't care if she broke the brat's jaw.

"I made myself a promise, I'm going to kill the Court of Owls and it doesn't matter who they are. No one is going to stop me! Not the Court, not the Talons, not the Titans, not my son, no one will stop me from finishing this! I'll kill all of you!"

"Cyborg, the door!" Robin shouted. Cyborg fired his Sonic Cannon, blasting it to pieces. The Titans rushed in the room, prepared to attack.

Robin came to a sudden halt as he saw the Talon holding up a little girl, not more than seven years old by the throat with one hand. One of the child's arms and legs were broken and she was screaming in pain.

"Let the girl go!" Robin ordered.

"So nice to see you again," Mary greeted her son.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"I, betrayed, sacrificed, buried, have risen from my tomb, by the grace of God, to punish those monsters. He sends me for that purpose, and here I am."

Mary turned and looked at her son, with her free hand she removed her mask and stared at him.

"Hello Dick, it's been so long, and I've missed you."

**_Author's Note: _**_Next chapter, Mother VS. Son!_


	4. Search and Destroy

**Search and Destroy**

**_Author's Note: _**_Grey DeLisle's voices Mary Grayson in The Batman, and she also voices Azula in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Psychotic Mary sounds like Azula. Thirty Seconds to Mars "Search and Destroy" makes for great background music for this chapter._

* * *

"Mom..." Robin spoke the word without hesitation. He knew it in his heart that it was her. This was no disguised spy, not Clayface, Madam Rouge or some other shape-shifting villain.

It really was her, Mary Elizabeth Lloyd Grayson, his mother. The world fell away, and it was like the other Titans weren't even there. Time slowed for the two of them and he felt like his legs had become lead.

"You've gotten taller son, I'm now the shortest person in this family," Mary smiled at him, a smile that contradicted the reality that she had a small child by her throat.

"This woman –?" Starfire asked.

"Is your mother?!" Raven exclaimed.

"That a bold claim lady, who sent you to concoct this setup?!" Cyborg shouted.

"Dude, spill!" Beast Boy glowered.

"She's not lying guys…she's Mary Grayson, my mother and I know that it's her."

"Mom, let the girl go. Talk to me. Tell me who did this to you."

_"Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them, or they'll send the Talon for your head."_

"That rhyme is far from home."

"They're real Dick, and they're coming for you. All of you. But that's why I'm here; I'm here to stop them permanently."

"You don't have to kill her, just let her go and talk to me."

"No Dick, I don't have time to talk. I'm not one of your card carrying villains. No grand speeches, no gloating about killing you and your friends, no fiendish plots to take over your city or the world. I read enough of your comic books to know that doing those things make villains stupid and careless. I'm here to kill the people who turned me into a monster."

"That's your reasoning then, it's still wrong!" Robin brandished his staff.

"I expect no less of my son. I raised you to always do the right thing; it's nice to see that you turned out so well, even if I am going to beat you to a bloody pulp."

"Mom, all I want to do is save you."

"I can only save myself, and I don't want to!"

Mary's face twisted with a rage he'd never seen before. "I was planning to kill this girl by beating her to death, but you've made me change my mind. I'll be merciful…"

"Mom, stop this, just give her to me. I'll deal with the Court of Owls…"

"…and give her the same death I received at the hands of Tony Zucco."

"NO!" Robin screamed, "Titans GO!"

The Titans rushed Mary Grayson; they only had one goal, get the girl away from her.

Mary tossed the girl away, Starfire went for the girl only to have Mary step in the way and kick her aside. Starfire managed to accept the blow, she struck at the woman but she shut out that this was Robin's mother; she only needed to see her as a criminal who needed to be stopped.

Starfire fired off several Starbolts, Mary avoided them using her impressive acrobatics. Starfire managed to fire a strong blast and watched in horror as Mary took it, the hot lasers burning her skin off revealing black blood and tissue beneath it.

Starfire gasped as the woman began to regenerate, her face resumed its normal appurtenance.

"Critical burns for someone who can regenerate…impress me, sweetheart."

Raven's powers engulfed her, slamming her through a wall. Beast Boy grabbed her and smashed her into the floor. The Titans could hear her bones breaking. Cyborg kneecapped her and they watched as she stood up.

"Mom, please, don't fight us! Just listen to me; she's only a little girl! You've murdered her parents; they're still just normal people like you!"

Robin saw his mother turn her gaze towards him. Her eyes were burning, like the hottest part of a flame.

"It doesn't matter what they are; now they must die! They'll be slaughtered corpses, left to rot in their graves like filth! This is just the way it is! This is what has to be done! And no one has the power to change that! Not God, the Devil or you!"

"I don't know about God," Raven looked at Mary, "But now you'll deal with a devil!"

Raven unleashed a wall of energy. It knocked Mary backward. Robin launched a flash/bang grenade at his mother, blinding her. Raven was the closest to the girl; she reached out to snatch the child to safety when she felt searing pain in her arms.

She glanced down to see her own blood dripping down her arms, Robin's mother had embedded half a dozen of them in both her arms even though she'd been blinded by Robin's flash/bang.

Raven was thrown off balance and hit the floor. She was struggling to her feet when Beast Boy charged in as a green elephant.

"Time for the hay burner***** to take a hike!"

She grabbed beast Boy by his trunk and threw him away like he was a baseball. He flew back into a wall.

Robin watched in horror and as the little girl grabbed on to his mother, pulled out a knife and clawed her way up on his mother's shoulders, stabbing her in the neck.

"Traitors must die!"

Mary struck the girl hard and slammed her on the floor. "Told you she's not worth rescuing!"

Cyborg saw the woman avoid his shots and grip the girl by her throat.

"Don't worry little brat, I'll see you in Hell soon enough!" Mary snapped the girl's neck even as Dick reached out to stop her.

Robin heard the sickening snap of the child's neck as his mother, his _mother_ looking at the limp body as if she were staring at garbage she needed to throw away. She tossed the corpse at his feet.

"How could you?!" he demanded. "After what happened to you and Dad, how could you do this?!"

"It's simple Dick, this wasn't a little girl, she was a _monster_, you have no idea what the Court of Owls is capable of, I do. This brat was one of their members."

"I don't believe you!"

Mary removed something from her belt and tossed it to Robin. Robin looked at it, it was a thumb drive.

"This is all the proof you'll need." Mary turned to walk away.

"Mom, you won't be leaving this room," Robin moved to block her exit. "I'm taking you down!"

"Your voice sounds _so_ half hearted, are you still in shock Dick? That I could do something so horrible? You've got that look on your face, blaming yourself for what I've done. _I'm_ fully responsible for their deaths, not you."

"I won't let you leave, I have to stop you, I'm the only one who can!" Robin shouted. It felt like a nightmare, a horrible dream, he was saying these things doing these things, but he felt like he was outside of his body.

"I'm leaving, but I will give you one minute."

"We don't need a minute lady; we can take you down right now!" Beast Boy shouted.

"Stand down Beast Boy; she won't attack us until the minute's up. She wants to remember everything we used to have, before I…have to fight her."

"But we can help—" Beast Boy protested.

"This is a family matter; she wants to fight me and me alone. That's what you want, isn't it mom?"

"Yes, that's what I want," Mary sighed. "Do you know what today is?"

"Yes Mom, it's June 27th…your birthday, and you also…died today, at this very moment." Robin glanced at the clock. They looked at each other and Starfire noticed, they acted like none of the other Titans even there.

"Do you still like shrimp stuffed mushrooms?" Mary smiled a little.

The Titans were surprised, they'd seen him cook and eat them.

"Yeah."

"Dick, do you remember when we visited Gotham City, and the entire city blacked out while we were there, and you weren't with us?"

"Yes, that was one wild night."

"I was worried sick; I hoped nothing bad would happen to you. You made it home and I was so relieved."

The Titans stared at Mary in surprise, they'd never seen her smile, but Robin had, it was the same as it always had been, it brought life into the room and lifted everyone's spirits. If only it was genuine and not a slasher smile straight out of The Shining.

"I remember you used to try to finish your homework as soon as you could so you could go to the movies when we weren't doing a show."

"Yeah, I remember that."

Mary raised her eyebrow, "You also spat out my food when I wasn't looking so you could say you were done eating, and it was always the vegetables."

"I wanted to practice," Robin chuckled. If only this minute could last forever, and they could act like a normal mother and son reunited after a long time.

"I remember the stunt you pulled with Raymond on my birthday, doing parkour across Gotham City. Almost got a security guard run over by a train."

"I apologized and he didn't press charges," Dick recalled. He gave her a sad look. "That birthday sucked for you didn't it Mom?"

"In more ways than one, you made me wait all day at the police station, I grounded you indefinitely, and then that night…we both died."

Mary moved forward, the Titans assumed she was going for a surprise attack, instead, she embraced her son, hugging him to her.

"Mom…I'm sorry…"

"What happened to me wasn't your fault."

"I know that."

"There's no time to keep regretting what happened a long time ago, besides, our minute's up."

"I know Mom, and now…I'm going to stop you. Even if it kills me. And even if you win this round against me, the Titans will stop you."

Mary gave him a look, a broad smile crossing her face and said something that surprised all the Titans, "I love you so much Dick. Make me proud."

Starfire watched as both mother and son simultaneously pulled out weapons, Mary had two throwing knives, Robin had birdarangs.

"Time to play, little Robin, let's play!"

Mary blocked his shuriken, batting them away with her knives. She saw him pull out a pair of escrima sticks.

They clashed, he blocked all her strikes with his escrima sticks, he knocked one of her knives away. She punched him across the face. He backed up and used two of his birdarangs to create a sword. She tucked the knife away and drew her own.

Swords slammed into each other as they hacked and slashed, looking for an opening. Robin stabbed her shoulder as she sliced his. Robin forced himself to move and stabbed her through the heart. He slammed his escrima stick into her eye and through her brain pan.

"Regenerate that, Mom." He picked up her inert body and began walking towards his friends.

"We need to get—"

Suddenly, Robin felt his mother push away from him, she shot off his body. He didn't even have time to turn when he felt searing pain in his chest. He saw three throwing knives embedded inside his body.

"You almost had me Dick, but you barely missed my brain pan!" Mary lurched forward and came at him.

She suddenly grabbed him by his shirt and threw him onto the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

She started hitting him, and Starfire felt like it lasted forever, but it could have only been a minute. She was ready to rush over and pull his mother away from him. All of this, it was so wrong and messed up.

"Starfire….stay out of this….this is something I…have to do!" Robin grunted.

She kept hitting him in the face, she'd give him a black eye, she saw blood dribbling out of his nose and mouth. It felt like a nightmare and that she wasn't really there.

Mary rained down blows, as if she could physically beat her sense of morality into him. His face was covered in blood. This…was something that was never supposed to happen…how could they bring her back so wrong, and twist her into something she was never supposed to be? She hated them for what they made her do, turn against the only person who would have understood her motives for all of this. But they had to turn her into the villain, and she'd make all of them pay for that.

She raised up her fist and prepared to strike.

"I'm sorry it has to end this way Richard."

"No…no you're not."

Mary slammed her fist into his face; he was unconscious before he hit the floor.

"Titans, stop her!" Cyborg screamed. Robin was unconscious and his friends rushed at her, Mary somersaulted back, scrambling out a window. She climbed onto the rooftop and they began chasing her as she sprinted over the rooftops.

Starfire elected to stay behind and flew an unconscious Dick Grayson back to Titans Tower.

Mary Grayson ran, with the Titans in hot pursuit. Raven threw everything she could at her, she avoided it leaping and somersaulting over the various objects. Beast Boy slashed at her as different animals, but she avoided him too. They chased her all over Jump City, all the way up the Sky Needle.

"There's nowhere left to go, Mary!" Cyborg warned. "Don't make this harder on yourself!"

"Did Dick ever tell you what they used to call us?" Mary asked, completely ignoring his words.

"What?" Cyborg looked at her.

"They used to call us fearless." Mary backed up and leapt off the Sky Needle, disappearing from sight.

"Dude, she won't survive that," Beast Boy gaped. That drop was so far.

"She'll be back," Raven looked at them. "We should get back to the Tower, I need to heal Robin's injuries."

Starfire waited in the medical room after she hooked him up to the machines. She saw his eyes flutter open.

"Starfire…where's mom?"

"She ran away," Starfire replied.

"I should have tried…harder…" he whispered.

"You did your best."

"No, I held back, I couldn't bring myself to fight; because it was her…I won't…make that mistake again."

Starfire saw him begin to cry, "This is wrong…so wrong."

She drew him into her arms and didn't say a word. She just let him cry.

Mary Grayson stumbled into her hiding place, collapsing as she leaned against the wall. She buried her face in her hands and cried.

"This is wrong…so wrong."

* * *

**_Author's Note: _**_There's an Azula reference in here, you find it, you're awesome!_

***** Any of the hay or grain eating animals of the circus, as opposed to the meat eaters.


	5. The Labyrinth

**The Labyrinth**

_This isn't rated M but I've pushed the T rating as far as I think I can take it. William Cobb is not a pervert in the Nightwing comics, but he was more than willing to kill Dick Grayson for not becoming a Talon._

* * *

Robin held it in his hand. A simple flash drive. It would tell him everything. About his mother. What was done to her. What made her the way she was. But he was scared of what he would find.

"Robin, what are you going to do?" Starfire asked. Raven was busy healing his injuries.

"I'll watch what's on this flash drive. I have a feeling none of it's gonna be pleasant."

He looked at the flash drive in his hand and stood up.

Robin approached the screen in the living room and inserted the thumb drive. There were videos, dating back to the time when his mother had died, there were different dates, there were months' worth of videos

_**July 3**__**rd**__**:**_

"Oh God! It's so dark! Where am I?!" Mary shrieked in terror.

Robin saw a bright light come on and faces appeared on a monitor.

"Welcome to the Labyrinth, Mary Lloyd!"

"Who are you?" she asked.

_"Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them, or they'll send the Talon for your head."_

"You're not real!" she shouted at the screen.

"We're very real, and we're going to break you!"

"I'm not afraid of you!"

"A Fearless Flying Grayson, we can change that."

Mary did the only sensible thing she could think of. She ran.

_**July 15**__**th**__**:**_

"Mary, don't drink the water…it's got drugs, like Mushroom Samba drugs…but I'm…so thirsty…"

Robin watched his mother continually stumble around in the dark from one room, to a maze and to another room.

"Oh, look at that, it's Gotham City…but it looks wrong…different, is this what they want to be?" she asked.

"It's a model like a toy; they think this is a big game…" Mary steadied herself against a wall.

"Gotta get outta here…." She murmured, finding her way into another room.

_**August 4**__**th**__**:**_

Another room, one filled with pictures, so many photos of people.

"They killed you, all of you, people who tried to stop them. They're telling me something aren't they? That I was stupid for not believing that they were real, that they existed…" Mary stopped at a blank spot.

"Say cheese…" she muttered.

"No, not listening, I won't listen to them, not real, not real, not real!"

There was a camera set up in the corner of the room.

Robin saw a man looming behind his mother. He stabbed her in the side before she could react.

"Who are you?" she gasped.

"Surely you know who I am, after all, I am family…" the voice sneered. The Talon removed his mask.

"You're supposed to be dead…"

"I'm William Cobb, your husband's grandfather, I don't exactly consider you family, considering you're three generations away from circus slut trash, but I could change my mind and I could make this easier for you, join us, and I will be merciful. Refuse and…" he dug the knife in a little harder. "I'll make your life Hell."

"Aren't I already in Hell?" Mary smirked.

"Yes," William Cobb smirked, but I'll make it much, much worse."

He bent down and bandaged her side. "I'm not going to let you die. You're going to live…because my Court wants you to suffer! So run Mary Lloyd, get up and run!"

"You're insane!" Mary shouted at him.

"Yes I am, they drove me mad, and I became…better," William smirked, "And I'll make you better too."

"I'd rather die!"

He gripped her head and forced her to kiss him. Robin was mortified.

"What a sick freak!" Robin shouted. "He's my great-grandfather!"

Mary bit his tongue and he snapped back, backhanding her, she fell hard.

"I'll break you first, you'll see."

Mary got up and ran again, escaping into the safety of the darkness. She had to get out, away from him, away from this twisted heritage and family she'd married into. They were trying to put her into a box called "Destiny" and she was going to do all she could to run from it.

Destinies didn't exist, and she was going to prove it to them, all of them.

_**September 8**__**th**__**:**_

"Not giving up yet, still got some fight in you," the voice hissed. Robin was enraged. This monster had his mother pinned down, arms behind her back, on her stomach.

"Giving up is what kills people, those who refuse to give up are entitled to their time to trample on the weak," Mary couldn't see the face, but she knew it was male, but she knew his voice all too well, William Cobb, the founder of the Grayson family and a sicko to boot.

"Not this time, not for you!" he hissed. "My Court, what shall I do to her?"

"Stick your fingers inside her; make her moan like a whore, like the slut she is."

"Very well."

Robin couldn't see what was happening, but he could hear pants being pulled down. "What's the matter Mary, don't you like it? If John were here instead, you'd be moaning and begging for it."

"You're sick, all of you are sick! You Court of Owls, you enjoying your little freak show, huh?!"

"Is your body so dead you couldn't even give my grandson a little pleasure, you should enjoy some pleasure before all the pain."

"You...you're William Cobb, one their favorite thugs huh? You're not my family, you're just scum!"

"Come now, if you don't you'll be in a lot of pain."

Robin heard his mother grunt and crane her head back far enough to spit in his face. "It's called orgasm control, you asshole, and you'll never get the satisfaction of seeing one because of you, you stick twisted freaks! You want a whore house? Try one of Gotham's brothels or a Coochie tent, you cowardly bastard! This pain's nothing, I had my son without an epidural!"

"Dude, she's got balls," Beast Boy gaped, this was all so horrible, but she wasn't giving up.

"Rob, are you gonna be okay?" Cyborg asked.

"Raven…Starfire…I want you both to leave, especially you Raven, with your history I don't want you guys to see this."

"Robin, I'll be fine, and if we want to help your mother, we all have to know what happened to her." Raven put a hand on his shoulder.

"We will be able to bear it," Starfire looked at him.

"The Graysons were supposed to be the elite, standing at the top of Gotham's high society, not down in the gutter with trash like you and your mother!" Cobb hissed.

"Is this how the Graysons would act, with all our wealth and power, doing whatever we pleased just because we have money? Save it! Since you seem to know _so_ much about _my_ family, how about I remind you about _yours_? A man who did his best to provide for his mother, becoming one of Gotham's favored only to have a romance go wrong. And since you couldn't take being separated from Amelia, you stole the child of the woman you claimed to love, and abandoned him at the circus so you could go play heroic assassin for a cabal of scumbag criminals!"

"You know nothing of sacrifice, nothing!" Cobb slammed her face into the dirt.

"Shut up, you don't know a thing about me!"

"I'm going to hurt you, make you suffer!" Robin could see his ancestor torturing his mother by grinding his hips, mimicking thrusting, taunting her with the fact that the only thing keeping her from being raped was his pants.

"If you're going to rape me, then do it, no time to be a coward. It's no worse than what you've already done, and you say you sacrificed all for "family." Get it over with!"

Robin saw Cobb stop moving, and yank up her pants. "My grandson…has good taste in women. Out of respect for that Mary Lloyd…Grayson. I won't rape you Sweetheart…."

Robin saw his great grandfather slam a throwing knife into her hand, "But I will _enjoy_ hurting you…"

"She verbally kicked his ass," Cyborg stared. "You get lectured like this when you were little?"

"Yeah, with much less profanity and more about me slacking off on homework, she'd make you want to crawl in a hole and hide in it for days." Robin buried his face in his hands. "That was too close. Too close."

"What are you doing?"

"You want your wedding ring back? You'll have to crawl over and get it!"

Robin didn't speak as he heard his mother scream. She was pinned to the floor through her wrists and ankles by throwing knives. William Cobb had disappeared.

"Dick…I'm so glad you can't see me like this, but I'm going to be okay. I'll get out of here, prove them all wrong. We'll move somewhere nice. Keystone City, Star City, Metropolis…somewhere where the Court of Owls doesn't exist. I know…Jump City, that place was nice…especially by the bay area. Yeah, that place sounds real nice. Settle down together; live in one place like a normal family. Yeah…somewhere like that would be nice."

"You moved here because of your mother?" Starfire asked.

"It was one of the reasons, yes."

"First…have to…get these out…" Robin saw his mother grip the throwing knife with her teeth and yank it out.

"Damn!" Beast Boy shouted.

Mary bent her body back, being a contortionist did have its advantages. She reached out and pulled the knives out of her ankles. She groaned as she stood to her feet.

She managed to scoop up her wedding ring and put it back on.

"Get back to the dark, the dark is safe…"

Robin saw his mother's shocked face as a sword went through her stomach.

"Hello Mary," the voice greeted her.

Mary fell to the floor. "William…Cobb…"

Robin saw the little girl, the one that his mother had viciously murdered. The girl approached his mother. She had a photograph.

"Is this your kid? We'll bring him here, so you can see him. He can play with Mister Talon and then he'll die, and you'll get to watch! Won't that be fun?"

"Oh God no! You're not a child, you're a monster!" Mary said as William Cobb kicked her in the stomach. He punched her in the face, breaking her nose, slammed her into the concrete.

"If you work for Mommy and Daddy, we'll leave him alone and you can get outta here."

"Never!" Mary snarled.

"Hurt her…more," the girl ordered.

Cobb repeatedly beat her with his fist, he kicked her in the stomach and knocked the wind out of her. He wouldn't relent and Robin bet he was smiling under that mask.

"These people are sick!" Robin slammed his fist down on a nearby table.

A group of the Court of Owls approached her.

They gestured to another Talon. "This man is your predecessor. Kill him."

"I…can't…" Mary whispered.

"If you join us, your son will live and you will have a purpose. What would a mother do to save her son from his destiny?"

"Destinies don't exist…" Mary was shaking uncontrollably. Robin saw is mother's despair and his heart shattered. "To save my son, I'd sell my soul!"

Robin was mortified, she'd sold her soul to them, to protect him and she hadn't known that he was safe at Wayne Manor; somehow she'd been unable to access information about him. It would be simple if they didn't allow her to go anywhere or look at anything they didn't want her to see.

He understood her rage, she'd sacrifice so much of her morality to protect him, and it had all been for nothing.

"Kneel before us!" They commanded.

Mary rolled to her feet and knelt on one knee, Robin could feel the smug expressions behind their masks, they were gloating because they finally broke her.

There were six figures, men and women, their faces covered by masks. They looked at this mother and spoke, "In a city divided, we are the middle."

Another man spoke up, "We are the gray of Gotham."

The third man added, "Will you _embrace_ us and all we seek to accomplish?"

She looked at them, "I will."

The little girl handed her a broadsword.

"Then take up this weapon and kill!" Robin saw his mother, she attacked the man with a savagery that terrified him to his core, he saw the other, her predecessor drop dead at her feet.

Mary lurched forward and vomited onto the ground.

"Come Mary, let's go, with this final step, you'll begin your new life Normally, you would be injected with the formula, but since you are dead, we'll have to try this instead." William Cobb led her to a room, he strapped her into a machine and Dick could only watch as they began pumping Electrum into her system.

"It hurts, oh God, it hurts!" she screamed.

Beast Boy shuddered at the sound of her agonized screams.

"Dude, she's saying something else…"

"Robin, what's she doing?" Cyborg asked.

"She's…praying…" Raven said quietly.

"Raven, you've gone pale, so have you Robin, what'd she say?" Cyborg asked.

"She's speaking Romani…" Raven whispered.

"She said, "God let me kill them…so I can go back to my son," Robin whispered.

Robin stood to his feet. "I've seen enough."

"Robin, what are you going to do?" Starfire asked.

Robin got to his feet and began walking away.

"I'm going to find the Court of Owls, I'll find where they live…and I'm going to burn their home to the ground!"

The Court of Owls had made a mistake targeting his mother, they should have left the dead alone, by the time he was through with them, they would wish someone _would_ kill them, because they would feel pain at his hands, and having a moral code did have its perks, it meant because he wouldn't let them die, that the pain would last for an eternity, and they would _wish_ that his mother would kill them. But he'd stop her, and finish them himself.


	6. A Normal Day

**A Normal Day**

Robin hadn't had time to go after his mother or the Court of Owls. There was still that sense of dread that lingered over Robin, everything was so wrong, his mother's vindictive murder spree, a cabal of criminals trying to take the city from him, his failure to save the little girl; it was all weighing on him so much.

_"Told you she's not worth rescuing!" _his mother's words ring in his head again and again like a church bell.

He stared out the window. He saw Starfire approach him from behind.

"You are thinking about your mother," she said.

"Was it really so obvious?" Robin looked over at her.

"I know you very well," Starfire smiled.

"Yeah, you do, and we're going to stop her, no matter what it takes, I don't want her to be like this."

Cyborg came in. "Robin, she's outside the Tower."

Robin approached the screen, staring at his mother as she stood outside Titans Tower.

Starfire gasped in surprise. Mary was dressed in civilian clothes with no signs of weapons on her. She held something in her hands.

"Why are you here Mom?" he asked.

"I come in peace Dick; can't I celebrate your birthday with you? I can put aside my crazy vendetta for one day."

"Come on in," he opened the door.

"Rob, is this a good idea? I mean…" Cyborg asked.

"It'll be fine, I'll handle her," Robin said.

Mary approached them quietly, handing her son a container.

"Homemade Birthday Cake!" Robin smiled. 'You always did make the best deserts."

"Thanks, it's nice you still remember my cooking," Mary smiled, a genuine smile. The other Titans were still surprised by it, she murdered and entire family and yet it was quite clear she loved and adored her own. She was ridiculously good at compartmentalizing her life; Raven was disturbed by the dichotomy.

Robin suddenly waved a metal detector over her. He scowled, "Mom, spit it out!"

"What, I have no weapons in my hands!"

"You swallowed a knife, spit it out, now!"

"She knows how to do that?" Beast Boy asked, surprised.

"We lived in a circus; she'd know how to do that, out with it!"

The others watched as Mary began to regurgitate the knife.

"Dude—" Beast Boy gawked.

"That is so—" Cyborg continued.

"—utterly fascinating!" Starfire exclaimed.

Robin took the knife from her. "You wouldn't use that to cut the cake would you?" he joked.

"Oh stop it!" Mary laughed. "I carry it for protection from _them_, and I don't want to talk about _them_ today."

Robin looked at her.

_"Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them, or they'll send the Talon for your head."_

"I despise that nursery rhyme!" Mary scowled. "We're not talking about them today!"

"If you would stop killing them and let me help you, we'd put an end to this sooner."

Mary sighed, "We're _not_ discussing this. "I don't feel that I need to wipe everybody out, Dick... just my enemies."

Dick looked at her.

"C'mon son, haven't you watched the Godfather Part II yet? It's a classic and you're old enough!"

"Haven't had time, and considering what happened to you, I'm surprised you still like those movies."

"I have good taste in movies. We'll watch it sometime, when this is over. This discussion's done."

"Doesn't mean we won't discuss this tomorrow," Robin looked at her.

"But just for today…let's act like a normal family," Mary smiled.

"Just for one day…" Robin returned her smile sadly. "Days I've dreamed about for years."

Mary gave him a hug for a long moment.

"Show me to your kitchen, I'll make you kids real lunch, all I smell is pizza."

"I missed your cooking, Mom."

"Better not be the only thing you've missed," she teased.

"No, I've missed your hugs, your advice, just hearing you and dad talk, all sorts of things," Robin led her to the kitchen; he showed her where the utensils and pots and pans were.

"I know, I missed you too," Mary busied herself in the kitchen.

"Dick, about your girlfriend," Mary smiled, "she's easily amused."

"How did you know she's my girlfriend?" Robin asked.

"I have it from a reliable source."

"Who?" Robin demanded.

"Not for you to know, you're Batman's prodigy, you figure it out," she walked by him.

Mary began preparing lunch, something healthy for these crazy teenagers; she knew Beast Boy was a vegetarian so she'd make something separate for him, still it felt good to do something familiar and normal for once.

She began singing an old song, one she'd heard on the radio a long time ago, when Batman had started being sighted around Gotham City; a famous singer had been inspired to write a song about him.

"There's a place where you can light the fire and watch it burn. Lay it down and lose it all, it's taken me so far beyond the point of no return.  
Gave all that I had when hope is gone. Hope is gone."

"Is this real or is it just another crazy dream that someday soon will fade away? Feels just like I'm under water and can barely breathe, dying in the bed that I have made."

"I don't wanna drown in you. I'm sinking, then I'm torn in two. So when you see me come up for air don't try to hold me down, just save me now. Don't let me drown in you...Don't let me drown in you…"

The others recognized this song, it was by a famous artist, who had performed a concert in Gotham City and was so inspired by Batman he had written a song about him.

"The City pulls me in closer than I've ever been, there ain't no way I can escape, without a doubt you know that I would tread the deepest end, thousand years, forever and a day…"

Raven watched her from a distance. The surreal experience of seeing this woman act like an average, ordinary mother and then remembering how she'd tortured and murdered an entire family, what could they do to stop her? Would she keep killing? The idea that she could separate herself from her rage and anger and act normal frightened her, that was what serial killers did.

Raven knew Mary's motives well, she'd outright said that she was strictly killing the Court of Owls in Jump City; the Titans were just in the way. But what was to stop her from killing others after they were finished. No, people like her wouldn't just stop killing, she'd find another reason and justify it somehow.

Still, she could see the woman that had raised their leader to be a good, considerate young man who was always there for his friends.

Seeing their dynamic was a fascinating thing, Dick would have just been a normal teenager living with his family. Raven was curious about his father, Mary had barely mentioned him, but she knew that they had all been very close.

"Dude…this food smells awesome!" Beast Boy walked in, sniffing. "Now I'm really hungry, but dude, it's all meat!"

"Don't worry, I've made you something too, green jeans," Mary grinned at him.

She served them lunch, the Titans began to eat, "Man, this food is great!" Cyborg shouted.

"It is simply wonderful!" Starfire said, eating as she took deep sips of mustard.

"Is that mustard?" Mary asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Star is…interesting that way," Robin explained.

"This is very good," Raven added, she returned to her meal.

They started on the cake.

"Dude, this is the best cake in the history of cake!" Beast Boy said, "I'm helping myself to another slice."

"This is my birthday cake, so I better have some left over!" Robin scowled. He looked at his mother, "You're not eating?"

"I don't need to eat, the Electrum has made me immortal, food does nothing for me."

"I'm sorry."

"That's okay. Nothing you can do about it."

They finished eating and they made their way into the living room.

"C'mon, we want some childhood stories of when he was a kid!" Beast Boy begged.

"You've never asked me for those before, I would tell you if you'd ask," Robin laughed.

"But how many of them end with, "And then you were grounded for a month?" you'd leave that part out wouldn't you Dick?" Mary chuckled.

"Dude, you got into trouble often?" Beast Boy asked.

"Not that often!" he protested.

"More times than I can count," Mary tteased.

"Mom!"

"But there was that blackout in Gotham City; you went off to the movies, without a group, which is something your father said you couldn't do."

"I know, I didn't think it was a big deal."

"In the city where they murder you in broad daylight, not a big deal," his mother smirked.

"You said I was grounded for a long time," Dick sighed. "You did cut me some slack though; I was chased all over by an angry metahuman Amygdala!"

Mary ran her hand over her face, "I really didn't think…you'd make it out of there alive…with the blackout and the riots…I was worried sick about you."

The expression passed over her face and she smiled, "But that's all in the past now. Here, this is for you."

Robin opened the present, and began laughing. "There's some irony for me!" He held it up, "This is the movie I got grounded for!"

"At least you'll be able to finish it!" Mary smiled at him.

Robin glanced at her hands, and noticed something important was missing.

"Mom, where's your wedding ring?" Robin asked, he'd noticed it was missing. It had been so important to her she'd ripped a knife out of her hand to go get it. Where could it be? She wouldn't lose it or throw it away.

"There's a story behind that, you're not going to like it. I used the wedding ring, as payment to a teacher, who taught me how to fight you. I still want it back, but he's the type of guy who's not going to just give it to me if I ask nicely."

"Who has it?!" Robin demanded.

"That's for me to know," Mary turned away from him.

The sun was starting to set, Mary headed up to the roof. "Such a nice view from here…"

"Yeah it is," Robin smiled. After a long while they headed back inside. Mary saw the training room and asked to go inside.

The others followed them as they saw Mary raise her eyes to the trapeze.

"Would you like to go up?" Robin asked.

"Yes, more than anything," she replied.

Up they went, she grabbed the bar and swung across, and Robin followed. Starfire had seen Robin on the trapeze before, she'd seen his incredible skills, but what she saw now, she could only describe as one thing: magic.

She simply watched and enjoyed what she saw. She saw Robin and his mother, and they were happy, and that would be enough for today. Sure tomorrow they'd be fighting again, but she'd put that out of her mind for now and enjoy seeing them as a family.

The others clapped appreciatively and smiled.

"You always did love the spotlight son," she beamed. "I'll have to leave soon, but thank you for all this; I haven't been able to be with you for a long time."

"I'll see you later son, go on," Mary said as Robin left the room.

Raven put a hand on Mary's shoulder. "What is it Raven?"

"Mary…what happened to you…the reason you're this way, is my fault," Raven looked at her.

"Nonsense, you gave me the ability to think coherently, that has nothing to do with why I kill them."

"You don't like discussing this with your son, but you're discussing it with me."

"You brought it up, Raven, and I never did thank you."

Raven's face became hard. "It's nothing to thank me for, you're murdering people, albeit, bad people, but you still don't have the right to do that."

"I know, it's one of the things I taught Dick, I'm a hypocrite, but everything I'm doing, I'm doing for him, and that's the only thing that matters to me."

"Is Robin so important to this Court of Owls?" Raven asked.

"Yes, he's very important to them," Mary turned away from her and walked out into the living room.

"Mary…I can ease the emotional pain…if that's something you want," Raven offered.

"You're being polite because of my son," Mary sighed. "Emotional healing…isn't something I want or need right now, but I'm grateful for the offer."

Mary followed Raven out to the living room.

"Cyborg, can I talk to you in private?"

Cyborg nodded and followed her over to the hall.

"Why would you want to talk to me?" Cyborg asked, curious.

"Because I don't have much time," Mary told him.

Cyborg was surprised, she was apparently immortal, how could she not have much time?

"My body is powered by Electrum, I don't know how the Court of Owls uses it, but it can resuscitate me, could you look into it to see if you could make more?"

"Why?"

"I know what you're thinking, "So you can kill?" No, I just want more time with my son, not that asking nicely will change your mind or anything, but I want you to keep it, so if something happens to me, he won't have to watch me die, again."

Cyborg understood, "I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this for Robin."

"Fair enough," she smiled. "Thank you."

"Can you look up these coordinates for me?" she handed him a piece of paper.

"What is it?" Cyborg demanded.

"Nothing important to you," she replied curtly.

He punched the coordinates into the computer; it was in the middle of a alleyway. She glanced at the screen, a look of relief on her face.

"That's all I need."

"This is about the Court of Owls, isn't it?" Cyborg glared.

"It is, but I'm not looking for them," she smiled. "You've helped me more than you know."

"How 'bout you just tell me what's going on!" Cyborg raised his voice.

"I will when the time's right," she left him.

Beast Boy looked up, she gestured for him to come over to her.

"Beast Boy, how is Dick?" she asked.

"I think…he's fine…" Beast Boy said sheepishly. "He seems to be happy. He talks about you guys all the time."

"That's good, I'm glad." She smiled at him, "Thank you."

Starfire approached Mary with a nervous smile. She knew that sometimes people who were close would want their parent to be proud of their chosen companion.

"You wish to speak with me?"

"Could you do just one thing for me, Starfire?" Mary asked.

"What is it?"

"Take care of Dick for me," Mary gave Starfire a hug, the types that Starfire usually gave other people.

The Tamaranean Princess smiled and returned the gesture.

Mary let her go and walked back towards the others.

Mary approached her son and hugged him tightly.

"Look at you, so tall and handsome, not bad for the guy who said that outfit made him "Look like a loser!"

"Do you _have_ to remind me I said that?" he asked.

"Yes, little Robin, I do have to remind you of that. I called you little Robin because you were born on the first day of spring, I never knew you wanted to _be_ a little bird."

She put a hand on his chest and removed something from one of her pockets.

"Dick, I have something for you, it's something I took from Haly Circus, during one of their annual stays in Gotham City."

She handed him a small book, he opened the first page, it was a name, he began flipping through the pages.

"That's a list of everyone who has ever been a Talon for the Court of Owls."

"Why would you give me this? You said you wanted me to stay out of your way."

"You've been looking at this from the wrong angle, and I know you'll come after them, so you might as well learn why I'm after them, but I won't make it easy for you."

Dick began flipping through the book. He came to the most current name and gasped. There was a name, a name that was familiar and one he knew very well. He looked up and his mother was gone.

The name in the book was his.

The apartment lights were lit as she approached the door. She opened it and walked in.

"Hello Jason," she smiled.

"You spend all day with your kid, and don't even invite me," he scowled.

"I invited you, you acted uninterested," she replied, crossing her arms.

The young teenager began to laugh.

"I'm just pullin' your leg! I had other things to do anyway."

"You stole the Red-X suit out of the Jump City police department evidence locker," Mary noted. "I should be impressed, but then again, you walk out of grocery stores with five pound turkeys."

"The only reason I stole the suit is because I want to help you, you saved my life and you got enemies, you could use help with that."

"You're a thief, not a killer, Jason, and I don't want you to be," Mary gave him a stern look. "I want you to stay out of my business!"

"Okay, I get it, but could you teach me some martial arts? I've been following you around and you do some amazing stuff, and if I'm gonna use this suit to help you out, I'm gonna have to learn."

"I don't need your help!" Mary snapped.

"Who told the Mayor that family was missing so you could have your little reunion with bird-boy? Oh that's right, _me_!"

"Don't get cute with me, Jason Todd, I'm being serious here."

"Fine, fine, but at least say yes to my training so I can use this suit."

"I train acrobats, Jason, don't know a thing about Xynothium."

"I can figure out that on my own, the acrobatics and combat training, when do we start?"

"Why should I train you?" Mary crossed her arms.

"Because I want to watch your back, my old man is dead, my mom died of cancer, you're the closest thing I have to a mom, and I know you're going after really bad guys, and I want to watch your back, because you gave me this apartment and all."

"I'll teach you what I know," Mary conceded, "But you lay low with that suit, the JCPD will be looking everywhere for it and I don't want to bail you out of jail."

"Fine, I'll ask again, when do we start?"

"Not tonight, I have business to take care of."

"What sort of business?" Jason asked, curious.

"Getting my wedding ring back," Mary replied, outfitting herself with knives and swords.

He watched her leave, "That must be _some_ wedding ring."

Jason turned his attention to the suit, "So let's see how you work. Red-X, sounds catchy…this could be fun!"

Mary approached the figure standing near the docks.

"Hello, Slade."

"Hello, Mary, enjoy the day with your son?"

"Like you care!" she snapped.

"No, I don't," he replied.

"Do you have the money?"

"Do you have my ring?"

"Yes, but I'm not going to make this easy for you," he set the ring on the ground between them. "If you want it, come and take it."

Mary slowly unsheathed her sword. "Fine, your funeral, but I'm going to enjoy killing you."


End file.
